Marionette



MARIONETTE Filed July l, 1922 .'5 Sheets-Sheet l y 22 192 M. M. DoNDo MARIONETTE Filed July l, 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 l/VVENTOR Vlaal/Kw2ATTORNEY. s"

July z2, 1924. 1,502,236

M. M. DONDO MARIONETTVE Filed July 1 1922 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 l f (T53: i-?

INVENTOR A TTORNE Y atented July 22, 1924.

IATHURI'N M. DONDO, 0F NEW YORK, N. Y.

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Application med( July 1 To all whom t may concern:

"Marionettes, of which the Be it knownthat I, MA'rHUnIN M. DoNno, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Im rovements in ollowing is a specification.

The present invention Vrelates to marionettes or filres of the kind described in my previous atents #1,350,711 of Aug. 24, 1920l and #1,400,532 of Dec. 2o, 1921, and

l to means for supporting the same on a stage.

One of the o jects of this invention is to provide an improved construction of marionettes whereby the articulation of the different organs will be rendered very eifective and aords a graceful reproduction of human actions and emotions.

Another object is to support the mari.- onette on the stage so that the same can be easily and conveniently moved and turned ron the stage and in such manner that the means of support will be concealed from view of the audience.

With these and other objects in view my invention consists in the novel construen tion, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described and dened in the appended claims.

In the accompanylng drawin in which similar reference characters enote corresponding parts Fig. 1 is a front view of a stage partly broken away and showing marionettes sup orted thereon according to my invention; ig. 2 is a sectional plan view of the supports on the stage; Fig: 3 is a vertical section of a marionette; ig 4 is a rear elevation of a marionette; Fig. 5 is an enlar ed section of a support on line 5-5 ol i 4; Fig. 6 is an enlarged elevation of sai support; Fig. 7 is aper.- spective view of a stage showing -the latter partly broken away; Fig. 8 is a top plan view thereof partly in section; Fig. 9 a vertical section of the stage on line 9`9 of Fig. 8; Fig. 10 is a perspective view of an upper part of the stage from which the cur' tain is sus ended; Fig. 11 is a front elevation of a modi ed construction of the stage; Fig. 12 a vertical section thereof on line 12--12 of Fig. 11, and Fig. 13 a top plan view thereof.

With the marionette or ligure according to this invention the head 10 has a vertical slot 11 in the rear of the neck portion 10 1922. Serial No. 572,318.

of the head. The trunk 12l iscomposed of two sections 13and 14 'of which section 14 has a' reduced tongue sha d portion 14 engaging a recess 13 of t e other section 14 and 1s pivotally connected to the lattery through a pin 15. The neck ortion 10 at its lower end is substantial y v spherically rounded tol movably bear on the trunk section 13. A spring coil 16 engages with one end a slightly slanting bore 102 provided in the neck portion 10 of the head and is suitably fastened therein. This spring coil vprojects through the recess 13 of the trunk portion 13 and is fastened with its other end as at 16 to the trunk portion 14.' Not only does this spring yieldingly and resilientl join the head 10 to the trunk 13, but it alsso acts on the trunk section 13 tending to hold the same in -alinement with the trunk section l14. The trunk section 13 is widened at its upper end so as to form shoulders 132. The arms 17 are attached to said shoulders at 17 throu h fiexible means such as straps 18 or the 1' e. The legs 19 are pivoted at 19 to the trunk section 14 and are each composed of two sections 192, 195 which are pivotally joined together at 194 and at these joints are so shaped as to permit the lower sections to swing only rearward] a limited extent, substantially as with t e construction described in my previous Patent No. 1,400,532 issued Dec. 20, 1921. Suitably attached to the upper sections 192 of the legs above their pivotal p oints are exible means, such as cords, wires '20 or the like which extend downwardl and serve for the mani ulation of said le s. For the manipulation of the arms l? I rovide ri ld means, such as wires or ro s 21 whic are pivotally attached tothe rigid parts of said arms as at 21 and ada ted to freely extend downwardly. For the mani ulation of the head I provide a rod 22 or t e like of rigid material, but made in two sections 22, 222. The upper section 22 engages the slot 11 in the neck portion. of the head and is pivotally secured therein as at 228. The two sections 22, 222 are pivoted to ether as at 224 and the lower section is "a apted to freely extend downwardly. The upper section 13 of the trunk is hollowed at its back as at 13, andthe ulpper Isection 22 of said rod` being capab e of extending through ,said hol ow .and of moving or swinging laterally in vsaid hollow, when during the manipulation of the head the latter is turned sidewise. To limit the rearward swinging movement of said section 22, members 23 are tixed to the trunk to extend across said hollow. Owing to the sectional construction of the rod 22 and the guiding of the upper section 22 thereof in the hollow the lowei section 222 during the manipulation ot the head, as for instance the up and down movement of the latter may be held at an angle to the upper section, which may be found to be more convenient than the vertical position. The manipulation of the different organs is substantially the same as in the aforenamed patents.

For the support of the marionette on the stage to render its operation easy, convenient and effective, I provide the following` construction ixed to and suspended from the lower trunk section 14 is a rigid substantially cylindrical rod 24 formed on its circumference with a plurality of superposed annular grooves 24.

Below the ioor of the stage 25 or sill 25 thereof, I provide one or more guides or bases 26 in form of bars placed on edge and extending across the stage. These bars are suitably ixed at their ends to stationary parts 252 of the stage (Fig. 2). Straddling these bars 26 are slotted slides or blocks 27, one for each marionette. Each block is provided with a vertical bore 27 through which the rod 24 of the marionette is adapted to pass freely. Fulcrumed at 28 on the block 27 is a spring actuated hookshaped linger 28 which is adapted to engage a groove 24 of the rod and to lock the latter aglainst longitudinal or vertical movement w axis, (Fi s. 5 an 6).

Thus t e ligure can be adjusted to and maintained at various heights from the oor of the stage or in a sitting position and be permitted at the same time to be turned around the axis of the rod. The blocks 27 and bars 26 are concealed from View through the openin 252 in the stage.

Inside o the slot 272 of the block small rollers or wheels 29 may be provided which facilitate the movement of the blocks 27 on their guides or bases 26.

The lower ends of the cords or wires 20 may be connected by a rigid cross iece 30 which serves as a common grasp or said wires and facilitates the manipulation there- Y of, (Fig. 1).

The stage 31 according to this invention is made collapsible. It com rises a screen like structure composed of a ront piece 32 and side pieces 33. The front piece according to modification shown in Figs. 7-10, may be composed of open frames 34, 34 to be covered b upper and lower aprons 35, 36

rand a mi' dle rigid or semi-rigid piece 37 ile (permitting it to turn on its of cardboard or the like, formed with the stage opening 38. The pull curtain 39 for said stage opening is suspended in the usual manner from the upper frame 34. The sides of said stage structure are each composed of superposed sections 40, 40 hinged or otherwise collapsibly joined together at 402 and adapted to be detachably fixed in unfolded position to the front 32 by screw bolts 4l and thumb nuts 41', as shown in Figs. 7 and 8. The guides orfsupports 42 for the marionettes are removably supported 'in grooves 43 formed in cross bars 43 fixed to the lower sections 40 of the sides 33 of the stage. 44 are horizontal arms pivoted or otherwise rotatably attached to the upper ends of the sides`33 and serving for the attachment of side aprons 44. The appearance of the stage from the front, both in size and shape, can be changed by adjusting the angle of the arms 44.

According to the modification shown in Figs. 1143, the front 45 of the stage is a solid piece having the stage opening 45 and the sides 46 are in form of open frames hinged or otherwise foldably or collapsibly joined to the front piece, as at 46 and are covered by aprons 47 or the like.

The supports 48 for the marionettes are removably borne in grooves 49 provided in cross bars 49 of Said side frames 46.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. The combination with a stage, of a guide, a marionette or figure and means for movably supporting the latter on said guide, including a slide and a member carrying said ligure and rotatably borne and vertical y adjustable in said slide.

2. The combination with a stage, of a guide, arranged below the floor surface of said stage, a marionette, a slide on said guide, means carrying said marionette and rotatably borne and vertically adjustable in said slide and means for holding said marionette in adjusted vertical position, wllilile permitting it to be turned horizonta y.

3. The combination with a stage, of a stationary guide below the ioor space of said stage, a marionette, a rigid member carrying said marionette, means slidably engaging said guide and adjustably and rotatab y bearing said rigid member and means for locking said rigid member against vertical displacement in said slide.

4. The combination with a stage, of a guide or base, a marionette, a rigid member carrying the latter and a support in which said rigid member is rotatably borne and which slidably engages said base, said rigid member being vertically adjustable in said support.

5. The combination with a stagehof e base, a marionette or figure comprising a sov trunk portion, a support slidably bearing on said base, a rigid member carrying said trunk portion and rotatably borne and vertically adjustable in said support.

6. The combination with a stage, of a stationary base below the floor space of said stage, a marionette or figure comprising a trunk portion, a support slidably bearing on said base, a rigid member attached to said trunk portion and rotatably borne and verticall adjustable in said support.

7. he combination with a stage, of a guide extending below the floor space of said stage, a marionette or figure, a rigid supf port therefor, a slide slidably engaging said bar and in which said trunk portion 1s roin diierent posi- 

